HANG TIME WEST – Thanks to talent, the fluke of timing, and, most of all, to Jerry Colangelo, the Hall of Fame is becoming an annual Pacers’ reunion.

This is Year 3 — and technically No. 4, with a good chance at adding more after that — of a party that will continue two weeks from today when the late Roger Brown is inducted as part of the Class of 2013 in ceremonies in Springfield, Mass. Perhaps Springfield should be known as East Indianapolis.

Daniels led to Brown this summer through the same ABA channel Colangelo, the chairman of the Hall, instituted in 2011 to give special attention to areas of the game he felt had become overlooked. And that same category could lead to election in the years ahead for two strong candidates from the Pacers’ ABA days, coach Bob Leonard and forward George McGinnis. Another former player, Freddie Lewis, could get some attention from that committee, while Donnie Walsh, the former head of basketball operations and current consultant, will remain on the ballot as a Contributor.

The organization’s roots in both leagues will be on full display on Sept. 8, when Miller and Daniels will be the presenters as Brown is inducted and Roger Brown Jr. is scheduled to accept on his father’s behalf.

“I’m very close to all of the old players,” Jeannie Brown, Roger’s former wife, said from Indianapolis. “We really stayed connected and always have. When Roger and I moved to this house, Mel helped us move because he had a truck. He helped us move in and the guys used to always come over here. We have a huge yard here and they’d be out there with bow and arrows shooting and practicing. We’ve stayed close. I talk to everybody a lot.”

10 Comments

The Pacers, a great franchise? Think again. Larry Bird made it for his great playing ability, one of the best ever, in Boston. Chris Mullin was primarily a Warrior, wasn’t even that good. I laughed when he made the Hall. Roger Brown? I’ve never heard of him before. I’ll give you Reggie Miller, he was a good player for his time, but certainly not among the greats. If he wasn’t allowed to push players off, who knows what his numbers would be? When you think of great franchises in basketball history, you think of the Lakers and Celtics, with a possibility of the Sixers as well. The Pacers are mediocre.

Now I do agree that the Pacers are mediocre at best as a franchise, but there’s no need to disrespect two of the all-time greats in this game. What kind of basketball did you watch? Reggie Miller “not among the greats?” Besides Jordan, during that era, who would you have wanted shooting the ball with the game on the line? Go ahead, I’ll wait…. Chris Mullin “wasn’t even that good?” Dude avg over 25 ppg with over 50% FG for 5 years straight, and is a career 51% FG shooter; which is unheard of for a primarily perimeter player. He is a 5 time All Star and Olympic gold medalist with the Dream Team. He is one of the best shooters in NBA history, Matt. Stop playin!

In my honest opinion, I believe that you are wrong to say that Chris Mullin does not deserve to be in the HOF. He was a lagend in New York City while playing for St. Johns and when he was with the Warriors RUN TMC was the most spectacular trio of their time (Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin).

He was also part of the original Dream Team in Barcelona and his stats from 88-93 were flat out amazing … He clearly deserves to be in the HOF.

Roger Brown is one of only four Pacer players to have his number hanging in the rafters at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, this recognition is from the NBA, who until recently was ignoring the history of the ABA almost all together. We (in Pacer Nation) loved our ABA team, and would LOVE to see a few more Pacers join the Basketball HOF… Slick and George McGinnis are both very deserving of enshrinement. Hopefully over the next few years both will recieve the nod